Unexpected
by Gemini96
Summary: Of two sisters one is always the watcher, one the dancer - Louise Glück. A routine mission goes wrong when someone from Natasha's past is unwittingly involved forcing Natasha to make a choice and face the consequences of something she did years ago.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise isn't mine :)**

Clint and Natasha had set up their base in the building opposite one of the target's known safe houses. They'd taken it in turns to watch the building, vigilant for any changes or visitors. So far, they'd been there for three days. Nothing had happened. "Clint, are you sure that the intel is right? There hasn't been any sign of the target."

Clint moved towards the window, "The intel is solid. She'll show up."

Natasha moved to join him, "It would help if we had more than just a description of the target. Blonde hair, average height, pretty, can kill you with her pinkie. It isn't exactly detailed."

Clint put the binoculars up to his eyes, "We've managed on less."

Natasha watched as the grip tightened on the binoculars.

"What?" she asked, grabbing the other pair of binoculars. Moving to stand next to Clint she scanned the building opposite for the target. She caught a quick flash of blonde hair as the main door to the building swung closed.

"What's the betting that's our target?" asked Clint, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

Natasha ignored the smugness of his expression, instead going for the business approach, "Same plan?"

Clint nodded in agreement.

This safe house had been chosen for a reason; it wasn't a very good safe house.

The windows had next to no visibility of the street below and there was only one way in or out due to the fire escape being non existent and the fact that a jump out of one of the windows would have been suicidal due to the twenty foot drop.

This was the safe house of someone desperate or sloppy.

Either way it worked in their favour but Natasha wasn't happy with the direct contradiction this profile had with their intel.

The plan was to go in through the front door; they'd already been inside and worked out the floor plans, so they knew where all the strategic points were. They hadn't risked bugs, if their target's reputation was anything to go by she would have picked them up in an instant.

They weren't worth the trouble they caused.

They were going to make do with the parabolic microphone to map out where their target was. Clint was to go in first with Natasha following. They would go in quietly and use as little force as necessary. This was an information gathering mission. They wouldn't get anything out of the target if they were dead, but these things had a way of sometimes ending badly.

After removing all traces of them ever being there, Clint and Natasha left the apartment they had been using as a base and made their way over to he other side of the street. Dusk may have been falling and the street may have been deserted of others, but the pair were inconspicuous in their approach to the building.

They made it through the main door of the building with ease and slowly made their way up the central staircase. The apartment they were interested in was on the third floor.

Before reaching the desired level, Natasha used the microphone to plot where the target was situated.

"North wall, in the kitchen area, I can hear water running."

This worked well for them; it was out of the sight of the front door and the running water gave them cover from the twinge the door gave when opened.

After checking the hallway was deserted, Clint got out his lock picks and set about manipulating the lock.

It didn't take him very long.

With one last look at Natasha to make sure she was ready, he slowly twisted the door handle taking care not to push the door open until it was fully turned. They needed a smooth entrance.

Clint quickly pushed open the door and lunged forward so his back was against the wall to his left. His bow was raised with an arrow notched. He had the target within his sights.

Natasha walked past him; she was the lead on this interrogation.

The woman hadn't turned around yet, although Natasha could tell that she knew that they were there. She had seen how her arm had automatically flicked downwards in expectance of knives falling into her palms.

What was surprising was that no knives had been thrown in their direction. She seemed unarmed against the pair.

"Are you here to kill me?"

The voice that spoke to them wasn't that of a woman, it was that of a teenage girl

It was familiar.

Natasha narrowed her eyes and kept her gun raised, "No."

The girl laughed, it was the laugh of someone defeated, "Then why bring so many weapons?"

That irked Natasha even more, how had she known to what degree they were armed?

"We're just here to talk."

The girl reached over and turned off the tap. It was a laboured movement accompanied by an intake of breath that was bravely hidden.

"So talk."

"You've become a problem. We've come to see if we can come to some sort of agreement that satisfies both parties."

Bracing her hands on the sink the girl snorted once more, "You and I both know that these sorts of things always end with someone dead. You of all people should know that."

With one quick glance to Clint, Natasha pushed forward, "And why might that be?"

The girl turned round, "Give me some credit, Natalia."

Natasha's blood ran cold, "Sofia?"

* * *

**Hello :) It's been a while since I wrote anything, but I've had this rolling around in my head for a while. I've got the next two chapters pretty much written, but I'd love to hear if you think I should carry on! Reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Natalia Romanova walked into the training room. It was early, but she wanted to run through some drills before anyone else got up. She was sick of people gawking at her while she trained._

_She wasn't alone._

_Already a little girl, no more than nine, was obliterating a training dummy, handling a pair of knives like they were just extensions of her hands. She finished the dummy off with final swipe to the neck, severing the theoretical juglar of her opponent._

"_You're Natalia Romanova," the girl remarked._

_Natalia narrowed her eyes, she was used to people knowing her name, but rarely found herself in a situation where someone she didn't know knew her name. She was uncomfortable._

_The little girl turned to face Natalia, "My name is Sofiia," she fiddled with knives in her hands, twiddling them around, "Ivan says you're going to teach me everything you know."_

Clint immediately tensed, "You know her?"

He kept his bow raised; he wasn't taking any chances, especially with someone from Natasha's past.

"I used to," she moved forward, lowering her gun.

"Natasha, what are you doing?"

She stuck out a hand in a placating gesture, "She won't hurt me."

Sofia kept her eyes trained on Natasha, "What make you think that?"

"You're unarmed."

"That hasn't stopped me before."

"Maybe not," conceded Natasha taking another step forward, "But I think the dislocated shoulder and the broken ribs might tip the fight in my favour."

The girl shook her head, wincing in pain, "You always were too perceptive."

Natasha took another step, a hand outreached, "Let me help you."

Sofia pushed herself back against the sink, "I have no need of your help."

Natasha sighed, "Now is not the time to worry about agency allegiances."

Sofia raised her head to meet Natasha's eyes, an expression of confusion on her face, "You think this about agency allegiance? That I'm refusing your help because I don't want to be seen as a traitor?"

"Well-" Natasha started.

"Who do you think did this?" asked Sofia motioning with her good arm the bruises and cuts that littered her body.

"But they only do that to…"

"They only do this to traitors; traitors and defectors."

"But they said that they were going to let you go so you could have a normal life."

Sofia laughed in Natasha's face, "The wishings of child. Did you really think they'd ever let one of us go after all the resources they'd used on us? It's service or death." She paused, "You knew that once too…before you left me."

Clint moved forward, "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

Natasha held Sofia's gaze a moment longer before breaking it to look at Clint.

"We were at the facility together."

"The red rooms?"

Natasha nodded before continuing, "Sofia was only little when I was there. We were…friends, I looked out for her."

"Because that worked out so well for the both of us."

Sofia was fuming at Natasha, it didn't make sense.

"Why are you so mad at me?"

Sofia just shook her head, dismissing the question, "You can't stay here; they're going to come back for me. They aren't the sort to leave their business unfinished."

"We can't just leave you here. They're going to kill you."

Sofia held Natasha's eyes, "You've done it before, I'm pretty sure you can do it again."

"What is wrong with you? I-"

Natasha watched projectile was launched towards Sofia's temple and watched as her eyes rolled back into her skull, she managed to catch her just before she hit the floor.

Natasha snapped her head round to glare at Clint, "What the hell was that?"

"They're coming for her; we can't stay here for a catch up. We need to leave, now."

"That doesn't warrant knocking her out."

Clint exhaled angrily, "I know you, Tasha, you weren't going to leave her and she had no intention of coming with us. Knocking her out was the most effective way of getting you both out of here alive."

Natasha just glared at him, Clint shrugged in response, "We've got to get her out of here. Can you go first? I'll carry her."

Natasha debated her options, but she knew that Clint was right; they needed to get out of the building before anyone else showed up.

She nodded at him, "Let's go."

Natasha went first, clearing the hallway and checking for any sign of movement below them before clearing Clint to follow her with Sofia. She was out cold and her head lolled from his arms.

She looked vulnerable.

They carried on this way the whole way to the ground floor. Natasha motioned for Clint to wait behind her while she checked out the exit route.

Tucking her gun into her concealed holster she exited the building. As far as she could tell, nothing was out of the ordinary.

She frowned, getting out was too easy, it didn't make sense.

After one final sweep, she gave Clint a signal that it was alright to bring Sofia out. He had rearranged the way he was holding her to make it more inconspicuous.

Of course anyone carrying a passed out girl was going to draw some attention, but they only had to make it to the car.

Natasha walked in front of Clint and Sofia, close enough so they could see any signals she gave, but far enough that it didn't look like they were together.

Street after street was empty.

It put both Clint and Natasha on edge; something was going on.

A few minutes after leaving the apartment they reached the car. Calling it a car was a bit of stretch. It was more of a monster.

Clint had picked it.

Natasha had to restrain herself when he'd first brought it out. She had thought it too big; too conspicuous, but right now she was grateful the safety it provided.

She opened the back door for Clint so he could lay Sofia down in the back, before climbing in front of the wheel.

Clint jumped in the passenger side, "That was too easy."

"Let's just get out of here before people start shooting."

Turning on the engine, Natasha pulled out from the alley, eager to leave the place behind.

They were both on edge.

It explained why the jumped so much when the building behind them exploded and gun shots started raining down on them from the heavens.

* * *

**Thank you for the reviews and alerts from the last chapter. I'm really glad you liked it! I'm nearly finished with the next chapter, so I'll be able to update soon. Until then, thank you for reading and have a really lovely day :)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Natalia balked, "Then you won't mind if I check this with him first."_

_The little girl shrugged, "Be my guest. He said he'd be down later. I think he knew you'd kick up a fuss."_

_Her expression barely hid the challenge in her words._

_This was a child who was used to getting what she wanted when she wanted._

"_And what if I refuse?"_

_The girl walked over to a bench, dumping her knives in a bag and pulling out a roll of bandages, "Everyone is expendable, Natalia," she started to wrap her hands, "Even you."_

"_I'm being threatened by a nine year old?"_

_Sofia walked into the ring, "I'm eight."_

_She just stood there, wrapping her hands, her expression challenging Natalia to step into the ring and fight her._

_If she wanted to fight, Natalia would fight. _

_She wouldn't be so keen once she wiped the floor with her. The eight year old was no match for Natalia's more experienced fourteen years._

"_You want to learn?"_

_Sofia raised an eyebrow, "I'm not sure what you can teach me, but Ivan is of the opinion you could help."_

_Natalia didn't even dignify it with a response, Sofia would be eating mat soon enough._

_She joined her in the ring, moving her head from side to side trying to warm up. She kept her eyes on Sofia; she knew better to underestimate an opponent, no matter how young or small._

_She was right not to. The girl had game. Sofia was the one to make the first move, nipping forward and jabbing her in the solar plexus. Unfortunately, Natalia saw her coming and jumped out of the way. Sofia had the cheek to look inconvenienced._

"_Did you expect me to just stand there?"_

_Sofia pulled a face before trying to kick out Natalia's legs. Natalia dodged her again. Sofia tried again. Natalia jumped out of the way. Sofia attacked. Natalia dodged. It carried on for an hour, until they were both sweating and the sun was up._

"_I thought you were supposed to be helping me!" yelled a tired and frustrated Sofia, trying to best Natalia once again._

_Natalia took a step back, "I can't help you if you don't want me to."_

_Sofia dropped her hands, "You think I find this fun? You're wiping the floor with me."_

"_Then stop."_

_Sofia raised her arms again, readying herself to fight again, but she seemed to fight an internal battle, before lowering her arms, "What do I do?"_

_Natalia folded her arms across her chest, "You get here for five AM tomorrow. We start then."_

"DRIVE!" screamed Clint, climbing into the back seat. He pushed Sofia into the foot well making sure she wasn't visible from the windows. He had no doubt in his mind that the people that were shooting them wanted Sofia.

He braced himself between the back of the front seats and the foot well and returned fire, shooting out the rear window.

"Tasha, anytime now would be a good time to go!" yelled Clint, firing at a sniper in a window to the left of them.

He missed his bow; firing arrows came so much more easily to him than firing bullets. The gun didn't sit well in his hand. It was too mechanical, too impersonal. If he was going to kill someone he was going to be the one who was in control. He couldn't ever forget the cost of killing someone. He couldn't ever lose the guilt of ripping someone's life away from them no matter how evil they were.

Natasha always said he was too hard on himself and maybe he was, but there was a cost for doing this job.

"Tasha!" yelled Clint, taking another of the snipers out.

Natasha floored the accelerator and the car shot out of the alleyway. The shots followed them, but there didn't seem to be anyone chasing them. A few seconds later the shots had petered out into faint pops in the distance.

Clint braced himself on the headrests of the two front seats, "I really don't like this Tasha. Something is going on and the sooner we leave the better."

Natasha nodded in agreement before turning onto the main road out of the city, "We might as well take the more visible route. A gun fight isn't exactly conducive to remaining inconspicuous. They know we're here."

Clint smirked, "The shattered rear window doesn't help either."

The rest of the journey to the hangar was relatively uneventful; Sofia remained unconscious.

By the time they pulled into the hangar a silence stretched between the two spies. Neither of them wanted to be the first to broach the subject of what they were going to do with their unexpected passenger. Nor did they want to think about how certain people would react to bringing an apparently defecting Russian spy right into the heart of United States national security.

They were not going to be popular with Director Fury.

"Hey Tasha," grimaced Clint, dropping Sofia into one of the seats in the jet, "Can you give me a hand?"

She watched for a second as Clint juggled the harness and the unconscious teenage girl before hiding a smile and helping him strap her in. She raised an eyebrow when Clint brought out a cable tie.

"She's an assassin and we're in a confined space."

She didn't stop him tie Sofia's hands together, but she certainly wasn't going to help him.

While Clint fired up the jet and taxied it out of the hangar, Natasha made contact with their handler. She made no mention of their extra passenger. Clint just looked her, his expression unreadable.

Pulling on a headset, Natasha took her seat next to Clint and helped him perform all the pre flight checks. They were quick, but thorough, both keen to leave the country behind them but not desperate enough to risk the jet falling out of the sky.

"We're good to go from this side."

"Same here," responded Natasha flicking one last switch, she caught Clint's eye, "Let's go."

Minutes later they were in the air…and Sofia was waking up.

"Наталья?" _Natalia?_

Natasha shot a worried glance at Clint before unbuckling and moving to crouch in front of Sofia; she put a hand on her cheek, "Sofia? Can you hear me?"

She groaned in response and moved her joined hands up towards her face, "Why are my hands tied together?" Her eyes flashed in response to the pain she felt on her temple, "Why does my head hurt?"

"You can thank Clint for that." Her voice softened, "We needed to get you out of there and you didn't seem to want to come with us."

Sofia was suddenly alert to her surroundings, "Where am I? What did you do?" She started to struggle against her bonds.

"Hey, calm down."

"I told you to leave me."

"I couldn't just leave you."

"Well you should of; you have no idea what you just walked into."

"Sofia, whatever happened, it's over. They aren't going to get you, not now."

She rested her head against the back of her seat, all of the fight suddenly draining out of her, "They'll find me. They always find me."

"Sof-"

"Leave me alone."

Natasha hung her head; she wasn't going to get anything more out of Sofia, she knew her well enough to know when to stop. She took her seat beside Clint again.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked, not taking his eyes of the horizon.

"Not particularly.

* * *

**I hope you're enjoying this so far. I'm going to have to space the updates out a bit more as I start school again on Monday, but I'll aim to update on Wednesday. I'd really like to hear what you think, so please leave a review, they make me smile :) Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Natalia had been in the training room long before five o'clock the next morning, she half expected Sofia to not even to bother to turn up. But she felt a knot, that she wasn't even aware existed, loosen as Sofia walked into the training room._

_She dropped her bag on a bench, "What now?"_

_Natalia beckoned her over, "We warm up."_

_Natalia started going through her usual warm up routine making sure that Sofia was copying her correctly and correcting her if she wasn't._

_She didn't have to correct her often; Natalia had to admit, the girl didn't make the same mistake twice. She was stubborn alright, but a mistake was never repeated._

_She didn't complain either._

_Not even when her hands slipped on the chin up bar. Her hands were rubbed raw from the constant slipping; she was barely strong enough to do more than two, but they would soon fix that._

_Around eleven, they stopped for a quick break. Sofia fell down onto the floor, leaning against the wall. As soon as Natalia caught her, she pulled her up, "If you sit down for too long you'll stiffen up and get cramp. We haven't finished yet."_

_Sofia inspected her hands, "What next?"_

"_You're going to learn how to fight properly."_

_The girl looked confused, "We aren't going to spar?"_

"_We'll spar when you have a chance of winning. It isn't useful for you to fight me, not now." She grabbed Sofia's shoulders and pushed her towards the punching bag, "Meet your new best friend."_

_Sofia turned back to Natalia raising an eyebrow, "I don't think we'll be best friends by the end of the day."_

The journey was long and boring.

Natasha and Clint didn't speak outside of what was necessary and Sofia didn't say anything at all, she just sat there and stared.

Natasha would have been worried, but Sofia's reaction stirred memories from deep down inside of her. It reminded her of a younger Sofia, sat in silence, just watching the world go by. It had taken her a while to realise that, that was how she coped with the life they led. Just sat there and went through everything she had seen, and then put it in a box.

It reminded Natasha of when she was in Sofia's situation, when she didn't have anyone to talk to; too young and too deadly, all alone in a world that was too big and too full of evil, forced to another's bidding, constantly worried about who they had become. They were given no choice.

Needless to say, Natasha didn't like thinking about it.

Ten minutes before they were due to land on the helicarrier, Natasha went to check on Sofia.

She looked like she was asleep, but Tasha knew that looks could be deceiving.

"Sof, we're nearly there."

Her eyes shot open, aware and ready.

"What happens when we get 'there', are you going to let me out of these?" she asked, annoyed, gesturing to her bound hands.

"We need to speak to someone first."

"So they can make sure I'm not a double agent?" she snorted, incredulous, "Fat chance of that since I didn't even want or plan to be here." She stared at Natasha, "You've changed."

"So have you."

"Natasha, we're about to land." Clint looked back at them, before switching on the microphone on his headset to talk to the agents in charge of the runway on the helicarrier. She took his hint. Shooting one last look, she took her place in the co-pilot seat.

The landing was smooth and it didn't take long to taxi to the allotted spot on the tarmac.

Clint grabbed her hand as she reached for the switch to open the doors, "Any ideas about how we're going to play this?"

"Leave it to me."

Clint moved to argue, but he could tell that his efforts would be in vain, once Natasha had made up her mind up about something, it took a hell of a lot to change it.

She flicked the switch and got up, "Time to go, Sofia"

The teenager did not look happy.

Clint grimaced, if only she knew what she was in for, she'd realise that the slight inconvenience she felt now would be nothing compared to Fury.

He just hoped she was smart enough to accept what he offered her. She was right when she said that defectors and traitors didn't last long.

If she didn't say yes she was writing he own death sentence.

Natasha kept hold of Sofia's arm as she walked across the tarmac and towards the bridge. She had a feeling that she'd be stopped before then, but it was the easiest way to get Fury's attention.

She was right. A stony faced Maria Hill intercepted them and in no uncertain terms told her that if she didn't follow her she'd be training recruits for the rest of her S.H.I.E.L.D career.

Sofia would have laughed if she didn't have a cable tie restraining her wrists or Natalia Romanova holding her arm, a little too tightly, she might add. Not that the cable tie was an issue, she could get out of that easily.

It was more the lethal assassin holding her arm very tightly that concerned her.

Agent Hill brought them to a conference room, although the lack of eye level windows made it feel more like a prison cell.

"Fury's on his way."

Maria left the room taking care to slam the door behind her.

"Well she's pissed."

Natasha shot Sofia a withering look, "No kidding."

Natasha pulled out one of the chairs that surrounded the conference and sat down, Sofia soon followed her lead feeling strange being the only one stood up.

"Can we take this off now?" She asked, raising her wrists.

"I don't think that would be the best idea." Came a very loud voice from the door in the corner.

A very angry Director Fury braced a hand on the back of the chair, "Romanoff, what the hell did you think you were doing bringing her here?"

* * *

**Hello again! I hope you're all having a lovely day :) I also you enjoyed chapter 4 :) I'll update at the weekend. Please review, I really would like to hear what you think so far, and it means a lot. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_Every day for the next two weeks barring two days where Natalia was on a mission, the pair would meet in the training room at five o'clock. They would then train for the rest of the morning, taking a break in the middle to grab a drink and catch their breath. Neither of them sat down._

_Day by day, Sofia got better at the basics of fighting. Natalia could tell that she had, had training, but it was obvious that it had been geared towards defensive manoeuvres. It worked for her, for now at least, but she could use her age to her advantage. When did anyone expect an eight year old to be able to disarm and knock out someone triple the size of her?_

_What surprised Natalia most were the strange array of talents she noticed her charge possessed; she could throw knives with terrifying aim and her balance was ridiculously good, to the extent of being able to balance on tip toe on top of a bar no thicker than Natalia's thumb, five feet in the air. She also had a very quiet and sharp intelligence about her. She was a girl of few words, but the words she did speak were thought out and deliberate. She did nothing by accident. _

_She was startlingly intelligent for an eight year old._

_Although the pair did speak to each other, the topics of the conversations were always neutral; weather, favourite colours, jokes, they never went deeper than the superficial. But with Natalia's knowledge of what the red room aimed to do, she couldn't help but wonder where Sofia fit into it and where she was from._

_It didn't take her long to figure out where Sofia was from, once she put all the clues together, it was easy, obvious really._

_She decided to broach the subject early one training session when she knew no one would be watching. Over the past few days it had become known that training room two was in use and that anyone who wanted to work out should go elsewhere. It hadn't stopped people stopping by to watch Natalia train Sofia. They felt like performing monkeys. It didn't seem to faze Sofia, it was this, the fact that she didn't care about being watched like an animal in a zoo that was the final piece of the puzzle._

_It was five AM and Natalia was sat waiting for her mentee, spinning a knife around in her hands with almost lazy precision._

"_Did you grow up travelling with a circus?" she finally asked as Sofia walked into the room._

_Sofia immediately froze, her eyes wide with something other than fear, "What?"_

_Natalia got up, knife still being twirled in her hands, "You have the balance of a tightrope walker, the ridiculous skills of a professional with a knife throwing act and people watching you just seems to make you want to perform more. You have the hallmarks of a child who grew up with the circus."_

_Sofia dumped her bag in the corner, "I didn't finish growing up."_

"_What?"_

"_You said 'grew up'. It's past tense. It suggests I've grown up." She motioned to herself, "What eight year old has finished growing up?"_

_Natalia tilted her head to the side, "So you did…spend time with a circus?"_

_The look Sofia shot Natalia showed she was uncomfortable with the way the questions were heading, "I lived with them all of my life."_

_Narrowing her eyes, Natalia carried on, "Something must have happened to change that?"_

_Sofia's eyes glazed over with memories, sadness enveloping her features, by the time her eyes focused again, they were hard and shut off._

"_Can we just train? I don't want to talk about it."_

_Natalia obliged, but she knew there was much more to that story than Sofia was telling her._

"Sir, if you could just let me explain?"

"Oh, I'm counting on it, because I can't come up with any sane or rational reason as to why you brought a foreign agent into the heart of one of the most secretive organisations in the United States."

Natasha didn't dare look at Sofia, "Sir, I think she could be of use to us."

"You were sent there to gather intel on her, not recruit her."

"Sir, I know her."

That revelation was met with silence by Fury; his only reaction was to look once between Sofia and Natasha, eyes narrowed, as if he were weeding out some sort of visible bond between the two.

"How?"

"We were at the facility together. I trained her."

Fury recoiled, "You mean to tell me that you let another girl, as highly trained as you, be an assassin for the very program you defected from, a group we know are very dangerous and very well equipped, and you didn't deem this information important enough to tell us?"

"I had my reasons, sir."

Fury braced his arms on the table in front of him, "Care to share what those reasons were, Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha glanced quickly to look at Sofia. She didn't catch the movement, but Fury did. His brow furrowed. Natasha watched as he figured out a plan of action.

"You, what's your name?"

Sofia jumped, "Sofia, sir."

"You look like you just got pulled through a cage of hungry lions."

Sofia couldn't think of anything that would be a satisfactory response, she flailed internally for something to say. Fury left her for just a moment, just enough to make her feel panicked before softening, "I'll get a medic to check you over." He opened the door and an agent stepped in, "Jenkins here will take you." He paused, "Don't try anything. My agents shoot to kill."

Sofia nodded and followed the Agent Jenkins out of the room.

Fury turned to Natasha, "Want to tell me your reasons now?"

Natasha buried her head in her hands before looking back up to answer Fury's question, "I trained her while I was at the red rooms. We became close."

"Romanoff, I have known a long time, I know when you aren't telling me everything."

"I made a deal and the consequences were…undesirable."

"How?"

"It was a bad choice, Fury."

"Is that all I get, Romanoff? 'I made a deal that went bad'? That doesn't explain to me why I should take her in."

"With all due respect, sir, I can't tell you anything more about it."

"Well, what can you tell me?"

Natasha clenched her fist underneath the table, "She is a good agent. She is just as good as I was. Just give her a chance; you won't regret it, sir."

Fury was silent as he weighed up his options until he turned, index finger pointed towards her, "You're in charge of her. You have two months to prove to me that she can be an asset. If she passes the physical and the psych eval, she can stay. But if she doesn't, she'll be out on her ass and you'll be doing basic recon missions for the rest of your career. Do you understand?"

Natasha nodded, "Yes, sir."

* * *

**Hello lovely readers! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and you enjoyed the chapter. Things start to happen next chapter, so look out for it around Wednesday. Thank you for everyone has reviewed so far, it means a lot! As always reviews are much appreciated and you will have my eternal gratitude :) **

**Gemma x**


	6. Chapter 6

_As the weeks passed, Natalia didn't broach the subject of Sofia's origins again, she realised that it wasn't something she talked about freely, she didn't want to risk the fragile friendship she had built with the girl. It started off with small things; a smile here or there, or offering to hold the bag without being asked and grew into walking to get lunch together and spending what little down time they had together in each other's rooms._

_It was on an evening like many others before it that found Sofia walking with Natalia back to her room. They were planning to get some more boxing practice in, you know, typical assassin stuff. _

_Just as they reached the door an agent (they were really just highly skilled guards) called to Sofia, "Alexandrov, here, now."_

_Apparently he hadn't been taught about politeness by his mother. But even so, with an eye roll towards Natalia she motioned for her to go on ahead while she walked over to the agent. They may have been rude, but you did what they said unless you wanted to answer to Ivan._

"_Oui, Monsieur?" The agent looked a bit pissed off at her use of French, but merely blinked and answered her in equally perfect French. Natalia could almost see the internal knee swipe when Sofia saw that her plot to be annoying was foiled. She laughed as she opened the door, leaving it open for when Sofia had finished talking to the man. She pulled her boxing stuff from a bag and dumped it on her bed figuring she'd give Sofia first choice before she wiped the floor with her._

_She was sorting the gloves from the pads when a gunshot rang out._

_Natalia's head shot up._

_The only people that carried guns were the guards._

_She sprinted out of her room, the boxing stuff long forgotten_

_She followed the screams._

_Down the corridor and then left until she came across a scene that would stick with her and haunt her memories for months to come._

_A pleading and crying Sofia was knelt beside the French speaking guard, blood drenching and staining her hands as she desperately tried to resuscitate him. One of the knives that Natalia had repeatedly watched her used in the training room lie on the ground next to her; blood soaking into the metal. _

_A crowd had gathered; a mixture of both recruits and guards. Not one of them moved to help her._

_Sofia looked up from her poor attempt at CPR and saw Natalia, her eyes widened in recognition, "Nat, help me!" she used her small hands to try and the cover the hole that had been made when she had pulled the blade out._

_When Natalia made no move to help, Sofia met her gaze, "Nat?"_

_Natalia shook her head and walked over to the little girl, pulling her up by the tops of her arms, "He's gone."_

"_But I-?"_

_Natalia shook her head before gently guiding Sofia back to her room leaving the dead guard in the pool of his blood surrounded by a set of very confused guards and recruits._

Once Natasha had been dismissed from Fury, she made her way to the infirmary to find Sofia. By the time she got there Sofia was sat on top of a bed all patched up with her arm in a sling.

Natasha knocked on the door, "Can I come in?"

Sofia shrugged. Natasha took it as a yes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got beaten up by a bunch of highly trained assassins."

Natasha nodded, her eyes hiding her amusement, "What did you do to piss them off?"

"I went AWOL on a mission; they'd been hunting me down for weeks. They found me just before you showed up."

"What made you run away?"

"I didn't run away. Look, can I go?"

Natasha looked at the teenager for a moment longer before conceding. She stuck her head around the curtain to talk to the Doctor on duty.

"Hey, Dr Mason, can she go?"

The female doctor looked up from her desk, "As long as she doesn't use that arm for anything and takes it easy."

Natasha looked back to Sofia, "You're good to go."

She moved to help Sofia down of the bed, but backed off when Sofia shot her a look, "Okay, I get it, you're mad at me, but I only wanted to make sure that you got down okay."

Sofia stood at the side of the bed, "I have the balance of a mountain goat. I wasn't going to fall."

Natasha raised her hands, "Okay. Let's go get you some food."

It seemed that agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gossiped like old women judging by the amount of curious looks Sofia and Natasha received as they walked into the canteen.

"Wow, new travels fast." Natasha remarked, grabbing a bottle of water, "Grab whatever you want."

As soon as Sofia had got what she wanted, Natasha led her out of the canteen and towards her room.

She unlocked the door and held it open for Sofia, "Make yourself at home."

"You have a room on the flying aircraft carrier? Are some sort of big shot around here?"

Natasha smiled, "Something like that, and it's a helicarrier."

"A what?"

"A helicarrier. It flies."

Sofia looked momentarily queasy, "Good to know."

They fell into an uneasy silence, Natasha looking at Sofia trying to see if she could still see some of the girl that she had left behind in Russia. Sofia looked at the floor refusing to meet her gaze. They both had too many question that neither of them wanted to answer.

"So, I'll leave you be for a bit. You shower or something," she pulled open a draw and took out a pair of shorts and a top, "these should fit you."

Sofia didn't reach out to take them, so Natasha just put them on the bed next to her.

"I'll be back later." She turned to leave, "Don't go wandering, Fury wasn't kidding with the whole shoot to kill thing."

Sofia blinked.

It would have to do, Natasha needed to get out. Her past and present were colliding and giving her the mother of all headaches.

She needed painkillers, to hit something and Clint.

* * *

**Hello my lovely readers! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, I'll only be able to update next weekend as I have exams in the next week (I know, sucks for me). As always have a great day, and if you have time could you possibly leave me a review? Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

_A hush followed the pair as they made their way the short distance back to Natalia's room. The recruits and guards lining the corridors parted as they passed; their silence both damning and sympathetic. They saw a little girl who didn't understand what she had done, but also a little girl had just killed one of their colleagues. _

_Every so often Sofia would give a whimper and Natalia would hold her closer. The little girl held her hands up being careful not to let the blood touch anything. She looked straight ahead, her gaze never faltering._

_Natalia walked her into her room through the still open door. She closed it behind them. She didn't want people to see Sofia like this._

_Weakness was a close to a death sentence as it got at the facility. Weakness meant bullying and longer training hours; it meant getting the ruthless tutors and having to do everything twice._

_Few lasted long and Natalia would be damned before she let Sofia sign her own death warrant._

_She walked Sofia straight into the bath room and sat her down on the closed toilet lid._

"_Sof?"_

_Her eyes had a glazed look about them; she showed no flicker of recognition in her eyes._

_Grabbing a washcloth from the sink, Natalia dampened it with warm water and started to dab away the spots of blood that dotted Sofia's face. The mundane action seemed to pull Sofia out of her silent reflection. She seemed to blink back into life._

"_Do you want to talk about it?" asked Natalia, holding Sofia's attention._

_She shook her head, "Not now."_

_Natalia nodded, "I'm just going back into my room to get you some clean clothes. Will you be alright here?"_

_Slowly, Sofia nodded._

_Natalia left the bathroom and grabbed a long t-shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms that were too small for her. They would be enormous on Sofia, but anything was better than the blood stained clothes she currently wore. She walked back into the bathroom and set them down on the cabinet. She walked over to the shower and turned it on._

"_Have a shower and then put those on, leave the dirty stuff in the corner, I'll deal with them later." She smoothed Sofia's hair on her head and rested her hand on her cheek, "I'll be out here."_

_A little while later, Sofia emerged from the bathroom, clean and in new clothes. Natalia turned round as she entered. Sofia sat down opposite her on the bed, crossing her legs._

"_Are you going to tell me what happened?" asked Natalia._

_Sofia scrunched her eyebrows together, it was almost as if remembering was hard, "He asked me to go with him; he said that Ivan needed to see me." She looked up, "I wasn't going to question that."_

_Natalia nodded and urged her to carry on._

"_We got around the corner and he grabbed me and pulled out the gun from the holster. He was pointing it at my side and telling me to be quiet or he'd shoot. I used some of the things you taught me to get him off me and I started to run. I only got a few feet before he took a shot. It went wide, but it was too late." Sofia rubbed a hand across her eye, she refused to cry, if she started, it was unlikely that she would stop. "I just reacted, I just threw the knife." Her voice cracked and tears started to roll down her cheeks, "I didn't mean to do it."_

_Natalia pulled her into a hug, "I know, Sof, I know."_

The painkiller part was pretty easy to fix, so Natasha very quickly found herself in the gym beating up a black heap of plastic moulded like a man.

It felt good to beat the crap out of something.

She was so engrossed she almost didn't hear him come in.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" she asked, not taking her eyes off her lifeless opponent.

"It depends." Clint answered, leaning his forearms on the railing, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Natasha kicked the training dummy, "What do you want to know?"

"Tasha, look at me."

Breathing heavily from the exercise, Natasha wiped her brow before turning to face him.

"This isn't like you."

Natasha shrugged, "Little bit of a shock, that's all. She was literally the last person I ever expected to see."

Clint narrowed his eyes, "Why?"

"Why what? Why am I in shock or why was she the last person I expected to see?"

Clint exhaled; she was avoiding answering the question, "Why was she the last person you expected to see?"

Tasha turned back to the dummy; she found it easier to answer his questions when she was hitting something.

"I made a deal with Ivan and I actually believed he would hold up his side of the bargain." Her hits got harder and faster, "He didn't."

Clint walked over to Natasha, making sure he kept away from the flying limbs, "It's not your fault."

"This isn't a matter of fault."

"The why are you so mad?"

Natasha swung her leg up and kicked the dummy so hard it flew across the room, "Come on!" she yelled in frustration. She rested her forearm on her head.

Clint placed his hands on her shoulders, "Tasha, talk to me."

She looked into his eyes, "We made a deal, I'd do the mission he'd been pestering me about if he let Sofia leave and set her up with a normal life."

"What was so special about the mission?"

"What do you mean?"

"Tasha, I know you. It has to be something really bad for you to refuse to do it."

Natasha was silent for a long moment, Clint could see as she decided whether or not to share her reasoning, she finally conceded, "It was a political assassination; nothing more than an elaborate statement."

"Was it…?" Clint tailed off, not wanting to verbalise the words in his head.

"It wasn't my first kill job." She answered.

They had known each other too long and too well to not understand what the other meant when they tailed off into silence leaving sentences unfinished.

"So, what made this one different?"

Natasha walked over to a bench and sat down, "All of the times before then, when I'd had to take a life, they were always bad people. Always. They were mob bosses, criminals, people who had got to the top of the underworld by pushing their way in with guns and violence. They were people who could defend themselves against me. The guy they wanted me to kill? He was just doing his job. Hell, he was trying to make the world a little bit better and they wanted me to kill him because his political views didn't fit in with the current party agenda."

He joined her on the bench, "So why did you do it?"

Natasha clasped her hands together, "I didn't want to watch Sofia become what I was." She stood up, "I saw what it would do to her."

Clint followed her, "What do you mean?"

"She killed someone, accidentally, and it terrified me." Natasha paused, "She was eight."

"Tasha…" Clint started.

"It's done. I can't change the past."

"But you can help change the future."

Natasha smiled and rested a hand on his cheek, her thumb slowly moving up and down, "I know. If only Sofia had her own Clint Barton."

Clint smiled, "She does." He turned his head and kissed her palm before walking towards the exit, "She's called Natasha Romanoff."

**Hello my lovelies! I hope you are all well and enjoying the story. I must apologise for not updating last week, I had exams. But they are now over and I have written a new chapter for you, which I hope you enjoyed. People who review get virtual cookies and eternal gratitude :)**


	8. Chapter 8

_It took an hour for Sofia to cry herself out and fall into an uneasy doze in Natalia's arms. It was strange to watch her as she slept; her face that was normally so closed off became a stage for all of her dreams. Natalia just hoped that those dreams wouldn't turn, as hers often did, into nightmares. She disentangled herself from Sofia's limbs and draped a blanket over her. She wanted to get rid of the bloody clothes in her bathroom; it wouldn't help Sofia if she saw them._

_She dropped them in the washing basket and was just washing her hands when there was a quiet tap on the door. Natalia's head shot up. With the events of earlier still lingering, she doubted that this could be anything good._

_Opening the door she came face to face with Ivan Petrovich._

"_Hello, Natalia. Care to join me on a walk?" he motioned to the corridor behind him. _

_Taking care not to slam the door behind her, Natalia nodded and joined Ivan as they walked towards the scene of the killing._

"_You know, your training of little Sofia has been much better than anticipated."_

_Natalia frowned, this was a strange thing for Ivan to lead with, especially after what had happened, she answered him nonetheless, "Thank you."_

"_We had high hopes for her."_

"'_Had', sir?"_

"_Very few young agents recover properly from something like this."_

"_What are you going to do to her?"_

"_We're dealing with her."_

_Natalia's heart stopped, 'dealing', present tense._

_She looked up at Ivan, eyes wide, "What?" It was barely audible._

_Ivan looked at a fingernail, "Unless of course I can be persuaded differently."_

_Natalia steeled herself, "What do I need to do?"_

"_The political aide job."_

_Inwardly, Natalia grimaced, it was worse than she expected. She had hoped to have nothing to do with it, stall Ivan for long enough that the time window would pass and the aide wouldn't be assassinated._

"_Fine." She braced herself for the explosion her next statement would cause, "But I want something in return."_

_Ivan looked at her curiously, scanning her features to check for sincerity, once he was sure that she was serious, he tipped his head back and laughed._

"_Natalia, my dear Natalia, why on earth would I give you something else in return? I'm already letting the circus brat live, isn't that enough?"_

_Natalia gritted her teeth, "After all my years of faithful service and no other requests for favours or leniencies, it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask this little thing of you."_

_Narrowing his eyes, Ivan motioned for her to continue._

"_I want you to let Sofia go, set her up with a normal life, so she can grow up without all of this bloodshed."_

"_That isn't a little thing Natalia."_

"_It's the only way I'll do the job."_

_Natalia was taking a big risk, she was working on the assumption that Ivan's need for her to do the job was greater than the inconvenience that would arise from giving Sofia fresh start._

_He rubbed a hand over his chin; cold and calculating._

"_Fine." Natalia had to stop herself from jumping up and down, "But I want the job done tonight. Sofia will leave as soon as I've made arrangements and you have completed the job."_

"_Thank you, sir."_

_He waved a dismissive hand towards her, "You may go."_

_Natalia had to make herself walk until she was round the corner and out of Ivan's sight. She was desperate to get back to Sofia, worried that Ivan's goons had 'dealt' with her._

_She finally got back to her room to find Sofia fast asleep under the blanket Natalia had draped over her._

_Natalia walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She would wait until Sofia woke up to tell her the good news._

* * *

By the time Natasha got back to her room, Sofia was fast asleep. It brought back memories of the last time Sofia had fallen asleep in her room; of an unhappier time. However, she didn't have time to let Sofia sleep. She grabbed the ankle that stuck out from under the blanket and shook it until Sofia shot up out of bed, poised and ready to fight.

She soon realised that it was Natasha, "What the hell?"

"We've got work to do. I am not spending the rest of my life doing basic recon missions."

Sofia crossed her arms, "What does that have to do with me."

"It's simple. You pass the fitness test and the psych eval or you get booted back to Russia and I spend the rest of my S.H.I.E.L.D career in snoresville."

Sofia made a move to sit back down on the bed but thought twice when she caught Natasha's expression, she shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Tasha narrowed her eyes, "No it doesn't. You're hurting, in a strange place and you're mad at me. My best guess is that your disengagement with…" she raised her hands, "…everything is your way of coping with it."

Sofia snorted, "Good one, Nat. But if it's all the same, I'll be staying here." She moved to flop down onto the bed, but Natasha grabbed her arm.

"Nat, get off me."

"Two hours, that's all I need."

Sofia looked directly in Natasha's eyes, "No."

A silent battle of wills culminated in Natasha dropping Sofia's arm, "So what? You're just going to sit in here and lick your wounds for the next few weeks? We don't have that luxury? You aren't eight anymore Sofia."

Sofia ripped her arm out of Natasha grasp, "At least I'm still me, _Natasha._" She sneered before barging out of the room taking great care to slam the door as loudly as she could.

Natasha sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. She had every intention of going after the teenager, but Sofia needed to cool down before Tasha tried to talk to her.

It wasn't anything to do with the fact that, that last comment had hurt.

Nothing at all.

**I am so sorry for the amount of time it took me to get this up, but you should be glad to hear that I have finished the rest of it and I should be updating a lot more regularly from now on! We have another four chapters ahead of us, just to let you know! Thank you for reading, and if you would like to leave a review it is always appreciated :) **


	9. Chapter 9

_Sofia was awake when Natalia got back, a probing look plastered her face. Natalia motioned for her to lie down, before leaning down to whisper in her ear, "You're getting out of here."_

_Sofia'a body went rigid, "What did you do?"_

"_Nothing, but you won't have to deal with this life for much longer, I promise." Natalia pushed the hair out of Sofia's eyes, "Go back to sleep."_

_While Sofia slept, Natalia took up residence in the corner of the room where she had clear visibility of both Sofia and the door. She had a knife tucked into her boot and the set of drawers to her right had a wide array of things that could be used as weapons._

_It grated Natalia that everything she did focused around the worst case scenario. Everything she did was engineered in a way that she could fight her way out of any situation if it went south. She no longer knew what it meant to not always be scared. She no longer felt the protection a child feels when surrounded by those who love them._

_She had lost that in a fire a long time ago on a very cold night._

_But it would be different for Sofia; she wouldn't have to spend her life looking on her shoulder concerned with what ifs and maybes. She'd be able to live. She'd be able to go to school. Learn. Grow. Maybe even fall in love._

_Love._

_It was a foreign concept to Natalia; something that could be read about but never felt. Something hidden in the pages of books that were dusty and cracked from ignorance not age. _

_It seemed that very few girls being trained to be assassins had the time or inclination to read stories about things they could never have. Only Natalia would rub salt into a wound that way._

_She had spent her younger years exploring the facility. She had once found a storage space packed tight with crates. When she had managed to pry one open she had found books whose pages hid secrets about what life was like for normal people. It was then that she had become a fierce reader. She had learnt to read from outdated newspaper clippings, and they did little to feed the imagination of a little girl._

_The books she had found however fed a raging hunger for normalcy and family. They were Natalia's secret. She scurried to and from her little treasure cave whenever she was sure no one was watching. She spent her nights in between wooden crates, knees drawn up to her chest, a book resting on her thighs, torch in hand. She would read about boys who didn't want to grow up, girls that fell down rabbit holes and secret gardens until she fell asleep, waking just before dawn to creep back to her room._

_These were the memories Natalia had looked on with happiness. It had been her little secret. It had gotten her through the days when the taunting about being Ivan's special little project got a little too much and the days when her arms burned and her head ached from the yelling of the physical instructor._

_Of course, secrets don't stay secret forever, especially not in a place like the red room._

_She had made her way to her special room one day to find it completely empty, any trace of the books and crates gone. The only thing that remained was her torch and a crisp white piece of paper. She remembered picking up the torch that was acting as a paper weight. Her heart dropped to her ankles when she saw the unmistakable cursive of Ivan. She had read the short sentence before dropping the torch and the paper and fleeing from the room._

_She had never returned._

_The message had been clear._

_Curiosity killed the cat_

It took longer than Natasha would like to admit for her to pull herself back together after Sofia's rather unforgiving comment.

But she was going to make things right regardless of Sofia's blatant feeling towards her.

Natasha found her exactly where she had expected; beating the stuffing out of a punching bag. Her sling was nowhere to be seen, it wouldn't have surprised Natasha if it had become victim to Sofia's anger and suffered some sort of mutilation before being flung out of a window.

She really hoped she hadn't flung it out of the window, the last thing she needed was to have to explain away the tattered remains of a medical sling after it had blocked an engine.

"Are you sure you should be doing that? The doctor told you to take it easy."

Sofia walloped the punching bag a little harder, "I heal fast."

"So I see."

Natasha circled around the bag taking in Sofia's form. She had improved in the years since she had trained her, her flair and showmanship was apparent in the strikes. It wasn't that she was overly theatrical or that her hits had lost their power. It would have been hard for someone with an untrained eye to notice, but she lingered ever so slightly on impact as if she were waiting for a reaction from an audience.

It was interesting.

It could also get her killed.

"Stop savouring the moment after the hit, you'll give your attacker a chance to grab your hands…" she tailed off waiting until she had Sofia's attention, "Or your neck."

Sofia made some sort of unimpressed snort before continuing to beat up the punching bag.

She didn't take Natasha's advice about the lingering. It seemed like she was self consciously making an effort to keep the mistake in her technique.

Tasha just rolled her eyes; if Sofia wanted to be a brat she was more than welcome to.

She'd just make her eat mat first.

She waited for the next hit and then very quickly darted forward, grabbed Sofia's arm and rammed it backwards until it was touching her spine, while simultaneously grabbing her into a headlock with the other hand.

Sofia got over her surprise quickly and struggled with the arm around her neck. She tried to stamp on Tasha's instep but found herself stomping on the ground as Tasha darted out of the way.

Sofia felt the pressure on her arm tighten, "I told you this would happen."

Sofia struggled harder, "Let me go."

"Not until you let this anger go. Do you really want to ruin the rest of your life because you're mad at me? Because the only way you're going to be allowed to stay is if you let me help you. And yes, right now that sucks. But there isn't anyone else willing to train you."

"Leave me alone. Please."

The fight had left Sofia's voice. She stopped struggling. She just stopped.

Tasha let go of Sofia.

The teenager dropped her arms.

Something was seriously wrong. Natasha circled the girl, pausing in front of her, her eyes searching for something, anything.

"Sof?" Her eyes flickered back into life, just as they had all those years ago. Natasha reached out and rested a hand on her arm, "Sof, talk to me."

"Why did you leave me?" It was a question asked with a questioning fierceness, the kind that comes just before you break down, your last attempt at putting on a brave face. Her eyes searched Natasha's as if they held the answers to all of her questions.

Tasha dropped her arm, "I didn't leave you on purpose, I swear."

Sofia's eyes started to water, "Then explain why one day you were there and the next you weren't. One day you were telling me about starting a new life, the next you had disappeared. Where did you go?"

Natasha would have answered if it weren't for the loud explosion that shook the helicarrier.

**Hopefully the ending should give you some indication that it's about to get more interesting next chapter, and I hope that you'll enjoy it :) Otherwise, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and are having a lovely week. Also thank you to my reviewers, I love you all :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_There was a soft knock on the door._

_That should have warned Natalia that someone undesirable was on the other side of the door. Nobody did anything softly at the facility; everything was brutal and purposeful._

_Natalia padded over to the door and pulled it open, being careful not to let it squeak._

_I van was outside._

"_We go now."_

_He grabbed her by the arm and frogmarched her down the corridor and towards the equipment room. She had no time to say goodbye to Sofia. After leaving her in the hands of Jenkins with the orders to equip her with the necessary gear, he left._

_Ivan was pretty much a human hurricane; he tore into your present, messed it up and then left you and everyone else to pick up the pieces._

_Ivan broke a lot more than was immediately evident that day._

_After letting Natalia pick up her weapons of choice, Jenkins handed her a typical comms pack and handed her a dress bag. He nodded towards the door that led outside, "We leave in ten minutes. Get changed and I'll meet you in the car."_

_It seemed that Jenkins was accompanying her on the mission. She resigned herself to it; she could definitely have someone worse having her back, at least Jenkins had the decency not to leer at her or stare at her unashamedly. _

_She pulled open the bag to find a knee length black dress. She brushed her hands across the silky material. It had a deep V shaped neckline followed by a skin tight sheen of fabric that finally fell down to her knees from her waist._

_It was without a doubt one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen; it was a shame that she had to kill someone in it._

_She got changed quickly. She didn't spend a long time admiring her dress, it wasn't worth the trouble it would cause when she got caught up looking at it and Jenkins had to come back and drag her into the car. He may have been a better choice than some of the other agents, but that didn't mean that he was an angel. He could be as bad as the rest of them._

_As it was she only just managed to get out to the waiting car. An impatient Jenkins motioned for her to get in the front passenger seat. She was curious to see that he was wearing a suit that very much complimented her dress. She had a bad feeling about this._

_Jenkins caught her looking._

_He turned his eyes back to the road before answering her questioning look, "It's a formal dinner; you're my date." He pulled a manila file from the door pocket and handed it to her, "Read this. It has the mission particulars."_

_Silently, she took the file and started filing through it. She didn't doubt that Jenkins served the dual role of making sure she carried through on her mission._

_The sky was starting to darken when they finally pulled into a parking facility. Natalia had memorised her briefing. She would have a ten minute window in which to isolate the target and then carry out the mission. Jenkins would serve the job of distracting his date._

_Jenkins gave Natalia a firm glare before threading her arm through his and guiding her out of the parking structure and towards the whitewashed walls of the Embassy. They were let through the door easily, so double takes at the invitation Jenkins carried. It was either the real deal or a very good forgery._

_The ballroom was relatively full when they entered. Couples mingled to a string quartet and white clothed tables lined the edge of the dance floor. Waiters glided in between couples offering flutes of champagne or canapés._

_Jenkins tugged on Natalia's arm and discreetly leaned his head in the direction of a man she soon recognised as the target. She nodded followed Jenkins, the plan was that he would reel him in with talk of his party's policies and then hand him over to Natalia after asking his partner for a dance. _

_The initial stage went well, Jenkins introduced himself, shook the target's hand and then introduced Natalia._

_The next part was the kicker._

"_Please, let me introduce my date," He placed his hand on the arm of the man next to him, "Clint, this is Ezra Jenkins and his partner, Nadya Rozanova. Nadya, Ezra, this is my date, Clint Barton."_

_Natalia covered up her stomach dropping to her knees by offering a hand and extending a polite greeting._

_Their intelligence had been wrong._

_Natalia was going to have to think on her feet and thinking on her feet often meant more blood on her hands. This was one day that she wished she had never even gotten out of bed._

* * *

There were sirens blaring, people ran through the corridors of the ship desperately trying to man their battle stations.

It appeared they were under attack.

Natasha looked to Sofia, "You're going to have to come with me."

Sofia grimaced in agreement, she may have been mad at Natasha, but she wasn't stupid enough to argue with her in the middle of a crisis when she had no idea about the layout of the ship.

She followed Natasha as she led her out of the gym, "We have to get to the bridge and then we'll find out what this is all about."

Natasha stood out among the chaos as the only one not running, of course she wasn't so blasé about an attack that she was taking a leisurely stroll, but she didn't lose her head. She strode purposefully in the direction of the bridge.

It reminded Sofia of the old Natalia and how she wouldn't take any crap from anyone. It made her smile to think that somewhere the Natalia that she had once known was still there.

The bridge was a scene of organised chaos. Hill directed agents loudly and Fury stood near the helm with Barton. They were both on high alert.

Both looked grim when they noticed the new arrivals.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, they had information and by the looks of it, it wasn't anything good.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she was in earshot.

They didn't even bother denying bad news.

Fury turned to her and spotted Sofia a few steps behind, "You might as well hear this too, since it involves you."

An uneasy feeling made itself at home in Natasha's stomach.

"We believe agents from your former agency have made their way on to the ship by causing a distraction by sabotaging an engine."

Sofia went deathly pale, "How, sir?"

"We were going to ask you the same thing." Fury took a step closer to Sofia, "Is there any chance that you led them here?"

Natasha stood in between Fury and Sofia, "If you're asking whether she's had time to covertly convey our position to the people that have spent the last few weeks trying to _kill _her, the answer would be no."

Fury barely let his eyes wander from Sofia'a face, "As much as I appreciate this show of solidarity between former colleagues, I'd feel much better if this was coming from her." He raised his eyebrows, "Well?"

"I didn't lead them here, sir."

"Is there any way they could have found their way here due to something in your possession?"

Natasha had had enough, "Fury this is insane, she doesn't have a bug on her, we searched everything."

Sofia remained silent, the trio turned to her.

Barton was the first of the three agents to arrive at the same place as Sofia was, "She's got a bug inside her." He remarked softly.

Fury balked, "You mean to say, by having her on this ship we have inadvertently led our enemies to our doorstep?" He turned to Sofia, "Did you know about it?"

Sofia shook her head, "I suspected, but I didn't know for sure. We had shots every year, we were never told what was in them, they could have put a tracker in one of those."

"What made you suspect?"

"There were stories and rumours about how they always found the ones that ran away and they always would." Sofia looked at Natasha, "Nat's the only one who ever managed it. I'm guessing that they started bugging us soon after she escaped because people have tried to escape since and they've al been dragged back and reprogrammed."

Fury looked ready to explode, but Clint intervened, "This works in our favour, sir."

Fury directed his heated gaze on Barton, "How in God's name does this work I our favour?"

Clint smiled, "They aren't here to invade or pronounce war; they're here for Sofia., they want her back."

"They want her back?"

Barton nodded, "Think about it, they didn't do any lasting damage to the engine, agents were only injured, not killed. They wanted to cause a distraction not declare war. They want Sofia."

A deceptively charming voice cut through the hustle of the bridge, "Actually I want Sofia _and_ Natalia,"

**I am sorry about the wait, but I have finished writing and tweaking and I will be uploading a chapter a day until we reach the end. I hope you are having a lovely day :) **


	11. Chapter 11

_To Jenkins' credit, he didn't miss a beat. He just digested the new information and carried on as if nothing had changed. It seemed like Natalia wouldn't be receiving any help from him; this was something she would have to do on her own._

_Luckily for her fortune was on her side, the target's date asked her to dance._

_A plan began to formulate in her mind._

_Her dance partner, Clint, wasn't actually that bad at dancing. He seemed to possess both a right and left foot, which made Natalia feel even worse about having to kill him to get to the target, there were so few men who could actually hold their own on the dance floor._

"_So, Nadya, how did you meet Ezra?"_

_He was American. Interesting._

_Natalia laughed, "At another one of these schmooze fests."_

"_Schmooze fest? Are you not a fan of these events?"_

"_Everyone is out for what they can get, you never know what they really want. I get sick of the agendas."_

_Her partner was silent._

_She checked herself and replayed what she had just said in her head. It wasn't away from the persona she had created in the car ride over to the Embassy. She was Nadya Rozanova; daughter of a minor politician in local government. She was brought up going to these sorts of events and didn't hide her dislike for them._

"_Are you alright, Clint?" she asked, looking him in the eye._

"_Yes, of course, your reply was just little unexpected."_

_Natalia smiled, "What about you, what do you think of these sorts of events?"_

_Clint held her eyes, "I like to meet interesting people."_

_He held her gaze a moment too long._

_In that moment, Natalia was sure that this man knew more than he was letting on._

_She was positive he knew her real identity._

_Shit._

_She had to get out of there. Thankfully the song came to an end and demanded a polite round of applause from the couples on the dance floor._

_She excused herself and made her way back to where Jenkins had been. There was no one there._

_Her evening was just getting worse and worse._

_She spotted a closing door to her right; her gut was telling her this was the way her partner had gone, she made haste to catch it before it clicked shut._

_In hindsight she probably should have checked that no one was watching as she slid through the door._

_Her decision to follow her gut paid off, she could hear Jenkins and the target further down the carpeted hallway. They seemed to be having a heated discussion._

"_Leave! Go now, while there's still time. She won't be too far behind."_

_Natalia balked, Jenkins was helping the target?_

_She hugged the wall and slowly slid her way down the corridor until she could see the duo. They were close together, their attention focused on each other. It worked in Natalia's favour. After grabbing one of her darts laced with a sleeping toxin, Natalia fired the projectile towards her former partner's neck. _

_He dropped instantly._

_The target's face drained of colour as he slowly turned around to face the red head that had moved from her place at the wall to under a light where she was clearly visible. The dart gun in hand allowed for no chances of mistaken identity. She was the shooter and she wanted him to know. That didn't bode well for him._

_Natalia watched as the realisation that the fragility of the human body was to be soon catching up with him dawned on his face._

_This was usually a moment she would savour. It was the moment the drug lord realised that the little girl they had thought to be nothing more than a pretty diversion with nothing more than fluff for brains was in fact deadly. _

_It was the point they started to beg and bargain._

_Often she relished the breaking of the drug lords and human traffickers, she made them suffer; penance for their past crimes._

_But today she didn't want to see the tears or hear the stories of the family that were to be left behind. She wanted to finish the job and go back to the strange reality of home that was the facility. _

_She walked over to the target holding his eyes. If she was going to kill him she would damn well look him in the eyes as she did it._

_Not breaking eye contact, she pulled the gun out of her purse. It would be messy, but it would be quick. He deserved quick. Aiden Cookson deserved quick._

_In the end he didn't beg. He looked at her stoically, eyes barely watering as she pulled the trigger._

_There was a grunt as he fell the floor, she knelt down, "I'm sorry, Aiden. I'm so sorry."_

_Natalia shut his lifeless eyes before standing up, she needed to get out of there and she intended to bring Jenkins with her, he had some explaining to do._

* * *

Natalia momentarily shut her eyes as she was transported back to being eight and being asked by that very same voice to 'kill the nasty man'.

She turned to face him, "Ivan."

He seemed positively delighted to see her there, "My dear Natalia, how adulthood becomes you. You have just bloomed in my absence," the smile fell from his face, "We'll soon correct that."

Barton took a step closer to Natasha and Sofia, it did not go unnoticed by Ivan, "And you've found yourself a beau. How very…" he moved his hands as if he were trying to pluck a word out of the air, "Twee."

The rest of the bridge had clocked on to Ivan and his armed entourage's appearance. He addressed them directly, "I do not come here with the intention of starting a war, I am merely here to collect my belongings. If you hold your fire, we will hold ours, if you shoot us," he laughed before continuing, "We shoot you."

Silence followed his statement along with the unmistakable clicking of the safetys being taken of guns.

Ivan shrugged his shoulders and nodded at his entourage, they surrounded the group on the platform, acting like a human shield from the large amount of guns that were now trained on the intruders.

"I like it better this way," He flopped down into a chair, "So Natalia, are you going to come along quietly or am I going to have to knock you out again?" He spoke as if her were addressing a child, "I remember you were a stubborn little thing when you were twelve. We had to knock you out just to get you to go on missions."

Natasha blanched at the mention of her past and snuck a look at Barton. He remained beside her, unfazed, and ready to attack.

"Oh, don't be so ashamed, you were good at what you did, my dear, one of the best. It was a shame you had to run away. You could have been the best." He sat back in his chair, and interlaced his fingers on top of his stomach, "It's a shame you didn't stay. I would have let Sofia go if you'd come back."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "No you wouldn't. I talked to Jenkins before you killed him. You wouldn't ever let any of us go."

Ivan let his eyes wash over Natalia's face one last time before he turned his attention to Sofia, "Sofia, don't tell me you want to stay here, with strangers? Come home."

Sofia stiffened beside Natalia.

"She's staying here, with me."

"Sadly, that isn't your choice." He turned back to the smaller of the two women, "Sofia?"

Next to Natalia, Sofia steeled herself, "I'm staying here."

Intrigued, Ivan cocked his head to the side, "Interesting. Well," he started, standing up, "It has been a delight talking to you both, but that was just a formality. Asking was just a courtesy. There was only ever going to be one course of action."

As if by some unspoken command the pair were surrounded by armed goons. There was cry of outrage from the Fury and Clint and the sound of gunfire as they were jostled from the room. The sound fell heavy in Natalia's heart. She didn't want anyone to die for her.

Nor did Sofia from the looks of it.

Neither did she look too happy with the predicament they found themselves in. She rolled her eyes at Natasha and then motioned to the four men that surrounded her with her head.

It took Natalia mere seconds to get her meaning. She nodded in response and counted down from five.

When she reached one all hell broke loose. Natasha grabbed the heads of the two guards to the side of her and knocked their heads together successfully rendering them unconscious. The two guards in to the front and to the rear had a few seconds to prepare themselves, but they were no match for the Black Widow's skills. As soon as the remaining two guards were down Natasha looked over to Sofia to find her standing over the unconscious bodies of the guards that had surrounded her, grinning.

"That was awesome! We should fight together more often."

Natasha smiled; she could tell it had been a while since Sofia's happy-go-lucky attitude had bubbled to surface, individuality and personality was frowned upon at the facility.

Claps came from in front of them, "My dears, you have truly outdone yourselves. But did you really think I would leave myself unarmed against you two?" He pulled a gun from within his jacket and clicked the safety off, "It really is a shame we had to end things like this. You are both shining examples of what the facility has achieved."

* * *

**As promised here is the next chapter! Reviewers get metaphorical cookies and a happy dance. Have a lovely day!**


	12. Chapter 12

_She didn't wake him until she had removed all of the weapons he carried and tied his hands together. That was merely a precaution, the drug left the recipient with a thumping headache and an intolerance to light. He wouldn't be going anywhere fast._

_She whacked him around the face before pulling him up._

_He grunted as she led him out of the building, "Romanova? What are you doing?"_

_She pushed him against the wall, he wrinkled his nose at the condensation and moss that covered it, "'Leave? Go now while there's still time?' What exactly were you trying to do?"_

_Jenkins' drugged out expression soon sobered, "What are you talking about?"_

_Natalia laughed, "Give me some credit, Jenkins. Why did you tip him off?"_

_Jenkins remained silent._

_Natalia figured he needed some persuasion._

_It took a broken nose and three broken ribs before he talked, "Alright, alright!"_

_Natalia paused from her onslaught, "Ready to explain?"_

_Jenkins paused to catch his breath, only the threat of Natalia's looming fist compelled him to talk, "Ivan told me to."_

"_Ivan- What?"_

"_He told me to make sure you didn't complete the mission. I had to get the target out."_

"_Why?" Jenkins shook his head; Natalia pushed him up against the wall, "WHY?"_

"_Ivan keeps his deals, he didn't want to let the circus freak go. By stopping you from carrying out the mission, he wouldn't have to."_

_Natalia stepped back and tried to digest the new piece of information, Ivan would go so far as sabotaging a mission so that he wouldn't have to let Sofia go? If she was brutally honest it didn't surprise her, but still…_

_There was a rush of air a few centimetres away from her right ear, Jenkins slumped over against the wall._

_Natalia lifted his head to find a circular bullet hole decorating his forehead._

"_Shit!"_

_There was a thump as someone landed behind her, "Make a move and you end up the same as him."_

_Natalia shut her eyes, she didn't have the upper hand in this situation. She'd have to play this by ear._

_She held up her hands and slowly turned round to face the shooter, "Killing my partner was rude-" Her mouth dropped; in front of her stood Aiden Cookson's date for the evening, Clint Barton._

_When he noted the recognition in her eyes, he smiled, "They never suspect the date. You'd think you professionals would have realised the oldest trick in the book already."_

"_Who are you working for?"_

"_I don't think you've heard of them, Natalia."_

_Natalia was very suddenly on high alert, "How do you know my name?"_

"_As opposed to Nadya Rozanova?"_

_Natalia narrowed her eyes._

_Barton sighed, "You're my mission."_

"_What does that mean?"_

"_It means you've pissed off some pretty important people and now they want you dead." He said it grimly, there was no pride or satisfaction in his voice._

"_Then why haven't you killed me already? You've had plenty of opportunities."_

_Barton took a step closer, "They told me you were an adult, in your twenties. Looking at you now, I'd say you're closer to sixteen."_

"_That doesn't answer my question, why haven't you killed me?"_

_He took another step towards her, "You're a child. You shouldn't be in this business."_

_Natalia took a step back, "Is that it? You wish to rescue me? You want to play the hero and rescue the poor little girl from the hands of the evil man who holds her hostage?" She laughed, "No thank you."_

_Barton's glare steeled, "I'm not rescuing anyone."_

"_Then why are you here?" she demanded._

"_I'm going to give you a choice. You can come with me and maybe, just maybe you might get to live to be a legal adult. Or I kill you. Your choice."_

_He took a step back and crossed his arms, waiting for an answer._

_Bad move._

_She launched herself at him, only to find herself after a few seconds face down on the pavement with Barton's knees pressing into her back._

"_I told you, I have a job to do and unless you decide that you'd rather live than die, that job has to be done. I'm not messing around here; you have a minute to decide."_

_He let her up, looking at the watch that decorated his wrist._

"_Fifty seconds left." He watched her expectantly._

"_Why?" she asked, her eyes searching his._

"_Forty-five seconds."_

"_Why would you give me the choice?"_

_Barton narrowed his eyes, "I saw what you did for Cookson after you killed him; the apology and how you closed his eyes. Those aren't the actions of a cold blooded assassin."_

"_If they weren't that, then what were they?" Her voice must have betrayed the underlying desperation for the answer to the question. What was she?_

"_They were the actions of a human, who was sorry for what they did, sorry that they couldn't take it back." He grasped her eyes with his, "You are not a monster, Natalia."_

"_How do you know?"_

"_Because monsters don't say sorry." Clint held out a hand, "Are you coming with me?"_

_Natalia eyed the hand. Could she really do it? Could she take Barton's hand and just disappear into the darkness, start a new life? Could she leave Sofia?_

_No, she berated herself, Ivan was many things, but he kept his deals. He would let Sofia go. She was sure of it._

_There was nothing tying her to the red room, to Ivan. She was as free as a bird. She had the chance at a future. She had a choice. The red room had taken her choices and her childhood, she'd be damned if they took the rest of her life too._

_She reached out and took Clint's hand, "Let's go."_

_Natalia started a new life that day; she became Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, partner of Clint Barton, possessor of choices._

_She was free._

* * *

An arrow flew through the air and knocked the gun out of Ivan's hand, the look of smug satisfaction that decorated his face soon turned into confusion and then anger.

A few feet behind, Clint stood with his bow raised, another arrow already notched in the string, ready and aimed at Ivan's heart. The sounds of fighting up on the bridge had stopped.

"It's your choice, Tasha, just give me the word."

Ivan smiled slowly, "Oh, she wouldn't let someone else do her dirty work, would you Natasha? You have to do it yourself and there's no way you could give up something as satisfying as killing me." Ivan's smile grew wider as Natasha pulled a gun from her belt, "You see? She can't resist."

His smile dipped when she handed it backwards to Clint who momentarily dropped his deadly vigil to take the gun from her hand.

Natasha took a step towards her former mentor.

"I've changed since you last saw me, Ivan. I'm not that little girl anymore. I don't just kill people without giving them a chance. I give them a choice."

Ivan laughed, "Life or death, what a charmingly outdated notion. I tell you what Natalia," He paused, holding Natasha's eyes, "I choose death."

Natasha merely cocked her head sideways, "Unfortunately for you, you don't get a choice. Just as I never got a choice." Natasha looked at Sofia and grabbed her hand, "Just as Sofia never got a choice. We're taking that right away from you. We'll see how you like it.

Ivan was practically foaming at the mouth as Natasha turned to speak to Clint, "Could you escort him to the cage? I have a feeling Fury will want to speak to him and I have a feeling the fresh air will do him good." She winked as she walked past him, Sofia still holding her hand.

Back on the bridge the group that had surrounded the platform had now been relieved of their weapons and had been handcuffed and restrained appropriately. Fury was chatting with Agent Hill when Sofia and Natasha came back, he looked much less grim than when they had last spoken, "Agents! I see you have made it back in one piece. Where, may I ask, is the delight that is Ivan?"

Natasha grinned, "He's on his way to the cage. You know, if I change my mind about letting him live. That way I only have to press a button." She shrugged her shoulders, "Less messy that way."

Fury narrowed an eye, "The scary thing is I can't tell whether you're joking or not."

Natasha just grinned, "I just came to tell you that we were alive. If you need us we'll be in the workout room."

Natasha pulled Sofia from the room, "We're going to work out?! After what just happened?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow but carried on walking, "Especially after that. Your kicks have gotten lazy. We are going to fix that."

Sofia put her hand out, "Wait. We're…okay, aren't we?"

Natasha put her hand on the girls shoulder, "Never better. Unless you still have questions?"

"No, Ivan answered them pretty well. I get why you left. You really did feel like you were doing what was for the best." Sofia paused, "I do have one question,"

Natasha nodded for her to go ahead.

"Why did you change your name to Natasha?"

Tasha nodded, she knew that question would be asked eventually, she looked Sofia in the eyes, "When I got here, it was a fresh start and a chance to be a different version of the person I was at the facility. I had choices. I had my freedom. I had a future. I didn't want to tarnish that with my past. I mean it's a part of me and there are thing I will never regret about it, you included. But I wanted to start afresh with a name that was totally mine; something that I was certain wasn't picked by the people who trained me to be a killer. Something that was mine."

Sofia nodded, "Do you um… Do you think maybe… I could do that too?"

"Start afresh?"

Sofia nodded in confirmation.

"I think it's a great idea. Do you have any ideas?"

Sofia nodded once more, "I like Sophie. It isn't a million miles from Sofia, but it's different."

"Sophie." Natasha tried out, "I like it."

Natasha carried on down the corridor, "Are you coming? Or are you worried I'm going to kick your butt?" she turned to face Sophie and started walking backwards, "Because it's going to happen."

Sophie smiled and followed Natasha, completely and utterly content with the turn her life had taken.

* * *

**Woo! Cheesy endings! That's it my lovely readers, that's this story finished. However, if any of you are interested in hearing some more from Natasha, Sophie and Clint, then I would love to revisit them. Just leave me a review and let me know :) Thank you to absolutely everyone who has read, followed, favourited or reviewed this story. All the little emails I got made me smile and often resulted in a massive happy dance, so thank you, and, as always, have a lovely day :)  
**


End file.
